Improvement in time-signals for railroads



Llumas@r 'Time-Signals fo'r Railroads. I

No.156,289. s Patented 0ct.27,1874.

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Attorneysf' l NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE;

" JOHN HuGHEs, or HENovo, PENNSYLVANIA.

, l-MPROKVEMENT IN TIME-SIGNALS FOR R-AILROADS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. l 56,289, dated October 27, 1874; application filed VSeptember 12,1874. Y

yTo all 'whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN HUGHES, of Itenovo, in the county of Clinton and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and valuable Improvement in Railroad-Signals; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full,

clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings making a part of this specification, and to the letters andguresof reference marked thereon.

Figure lof the drawing is a representation of a vertical sectional view of my railroadsigJ nal. Fig. 2 is a detail view of the same..

This invention has relation to railroad-signals which are especially designed to indicate how long a time has elapsed since the passing of a train, at any given point, to the conductor of a following train. rlhe nature of the invention consists in a cylinder mounted upon a vertically-movable shaft, and bearing upon its upper part a second cylinder of glass, the two cylinders lled with a fluid, and violently agitated by the wheels of a passing train, through the medium of a treadle,wherebyan insoluble substance of suitable color will be thoroughly disseminated through the fluid, thus telling that a train has passed, the length of time since being indicated by the lowering surface of such coloring substance in the cup, all as will be hereinafter more fully explained.

In the annexed drawings, A designates a rail of a railway, and B a treadle-lever having its fulcrum at b, and situated, preferably, at right angles to the track. rlhe power end of this lever is in close contact with one of the rails of' the track, and when it is raised is above the upper surface thereof, so that each successive wheel of a passing train shall cause the said end to be violently depressed, for a purpose hereinafter to be explained. C designates a metal shaft, its lower end pivoted to the treadle B, and guided in a lug, a, upon the upright b of the signal-frame D, upon which the signal apparatus is mounted. This signal consists of a lower metallic cylinder, E, having,

` at'or near the center of its length, an annular flange, c, with a rim, c', upon which is seated a second cylinder, F, made of transparent glass, the two being rigidly clamped together through the medium of the shaft G, which passes centrally through both, and a nut, d, as shown in Fig. l. The bottom of the cylinder E has a flange, e, by means of which a plate, f, is securely bolted thereto, between which and the bottom of the said cylinder I have caused to be-placed an elastic substance, g, for the purpose of softening the jar caused by the actuation of' the treadle B. The upper end of the glass cylinder F is, in like manner, closed by a plate, G, havingaperipheral flange, g', into which is receivedthe upper edge of the said cylinder, and by ineansof which leakage is prevented, and thelower surface of the said plate 'is providedwith a conical projection, H, the apex of which is received within the Ahollowcylinder E, as shown in Figs. l and 2. p 121192 designate a number of suitable perforations or ducts situated at or near the lower part of the glass cup F, but through the vertical walls of the cylinder E, by means of which an intercommunication between the two is provided.

The signal apparatus E F being rigidly mounted upon the shaft C, the actuation of the treadle by a passing train will cause it to be violently agitated. If, now, the two cylinders are nearly filled with a fluid, and with a proper proportion of a coloring substance insoluble therein, such agitation will cause the colored matter to be thoroughly disseminated through every part of the fluid, and, being insoluble, will gradually precipitate from above downward.

When a train has just passed, the coloring will be evenly mixed i-n every part of the glass cylinder F,but, as time elapses, the upper part of the fluid will become clear, owing to the precipitation or settling of the colorer, leaving a distinct line of demarcation between the colored and uncolored parts of the fluid, the said line descending lower and lower, until all is at length again clear.

It will be seen that the lowering of the line of coloring in the iluid is more or less marked according to the length of time since the passing of a train; and hence `I have arranged a number of' pointers, it', one above the other, upon a vertical arm, I, attached to the cylinder E, by means of which I am enabled to determine the time that has elapsed since the passage of a train. The upper pointer being adjusted to indicate ve minutes, when the coloring has descended to the level thereof, that length of 'time will have elapsed. By this means the conductors of a number of following trains will be enabled to keep at a proper distance apart to avoid collision with the preceding trains.

That portion of the cylinderE which is within the glass cup F it is my purpose to paint of such a color as to be in striking contrast with the coloring matter in the fluid, and with `the pointers-that is to say, the coloring matter being of an insoluble white substance, the cylinders will be black, and the pointers red. I do not, however, confine myself` to these particular colors, as any others strongly contrasting, the one with the other, will be equally eficient in discharging their purpose, namely, to enable the conductor to tell at a glance the degree of lowering the coloring has undergone.

Instead of extending the Vshaft C entirely through both cylinders, I may cause it to end at Vsome point within the cylinder E, in which case I shall clamp the two cylinders E F together by long boltsjj, as shown in Fig. 2. I shall also be then enabled to dispense with a covering for the conical projection on the under sidel of the top of the glass cylinder.

The fluid is preferably in sucient quantity to reach a point at or near the dotted line x w shown in Fig. 1 5 but, by giving a greater degrec of vertical play to the shaft C, I may have the cylinder E only lled, as this increased play will cause the uid to be dashedagainst the inverted cone H, falling thence into the space below the upper portion ofthe cylinder E and the glass cylinder F. The length of time consumed in the escape of thefluid thence downward into the cylinder E will determine the length of time since the passage of a train.l When this latter principle is used, I may use a coloring matter in solution.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. The combination, with the actuating-lever B and the vertically-movable shaft C, of the cylinders E F, substantially as specified.

2. The combination, with the indicators t i and the cylinders E F, of a fluid and a coloring substance insoluble therein, for the pur*- pose of determining, by the lowering of the coloring substance, the lapse of time since the passage, ata given point, of a preceding train to the conductor of one following, substantially as specified.

In testimony that I claim the above I have hereunto subscribed my namein the presence of 4two witnesses.

JOHN HUGHES.

Witnesses:

JOHN REILLEY, FRANCIS HARVEY. 

